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From:  Diane Vera (dvera@met.com)
Subject: Fwd: Satan as ruler of the Earth
Date: 11 Apr 1995 23:13:48 GMT
 
Following are excerpts from two messages I posted to Kato @UDN (now
Kato @ODS) in the WorldLink Religion forum on 6/18/94.  The
cosmology I present here should be taken as speculation, not as
something I believe in absolutely.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Christianity's traditional "map" of the spirit world here on Earth
is as follows:
 
  1)  Satan is the "Lord of this World", an entity whose will is
      embodied in our "fleshly nature."  Thus, a person is
      "following Satan" simply by being oneself, apart from the
      Christian "God".
 
  2)  Christians are supposed to be "in the world, but not of the
      world", i.e., Christians are an alienated enclave within what
      is basically Satan's domain.
 
Supposedly, Satan's position as ruler of the Earth was granted to
him temporarily by his enemy, the Christian "God", who is supposedly
more powerful than Satan, and against whom Satan is supposedly an
ego-driven rebel.
 
But, in my opinion, the above-described "map" leads more logically
to the opposite conclusion:  that "Satan" is the more powerful of
the two entities, and that the Christian "God" is a rebel against
"Satan".  (I do not believe that the Christian "God" is the cosmic
God.)  Christianity itself is, among other things, a rebellion
against certain facts of Earthbound life.  Christians fight against
"the Lord of this World", in submission to the will of their own
"God". 

I believe that all religions contain elements of truth; that all
religions -- including Christianity -- are based on people's genuine
though imperfect perceptions of spiritual reality.  The aspect of a
religion that I am most inclined to take seriously is its "map" of
the spiritual here-and-now, _NOT_ what the religion claims about the
past, the future, or the afterlife.  A religion's spiritual "map" of
the here-and-now is the one aspect of a religion most likely to be
based on people's real spiritual experiences, whereas claims about
the afterlife, the world's future, or the prehistoric past are far
less easily verified and, therefore, more likely to be just pie-in-
the-sky.
 
What Christianity traditionally says about the spiritual here-and-
now is that the Earth is ruled by Satan.  And it just so happens
that I too perceive a spiritual force which has many of the
characteristics that Christianity traditionally ascribes to Satan: 
it literally _feels_ dark, "down there", and sort of serpentlike; it
is immanent in both sensuality and certain kinds of intellectual
(e.g. scientific/mathematical) and creative endeavors; and it
somehow feels right to think of this force as emanating from "the
Lord of this World."  Needless to say, I have a very different
opinion of "Satan" than Christians do ....
 
To sum up my beliefs regarding various entities:
 
  1)  The cosmic God (_NOT_ the Christian "God")  =  the Creator
      and/or Universal Mind  =  an entity whose will is embodied
      in the laws of physics.  Probably does not interact with
      humans on a personal basis.
 
  2)  "Satan"  =  the "Lord of this World"  =  an entity whose will
      is embodied in the nature of Earthly lifeforms.  Can also be
      a Muse.  Exudes energy with a dark, "down-there"/"rising-up"
      feel.  Is _NOT_ an enemy of the cosmic God.
 
  3)  The Christian "God"  =  one of the many less-than-cosmic
      deities that have formed "personal" relationships with
      communities of people.  The Christian "God" is one of the
      most aggressive deities of this type, seeking to supplant all
      others, and has also declared war against "Satan".  Exudes
      energy with a white-light, "up-there" feel.
 
Now, about the "worship" question.  I believe that neither the
cosmic God nor "Satan" _NEEDS_ to be worshipped by humans.  They
both -- especially the cosmic God -- are just too big to care about
this sort of thing.  The fact that the Christian "God" does have
such a strong desire to be worshipped is one of the reasons I
believe he's _NOT_ the cosmic God.
 
Also, I don't believe that "Satan" spends all his time scheming
against the Christian "God".  He doesn't need to.  If the will of
"Satan" is embodied in our very nature, then _OF_COURSE_ anything
which opposes it is going to have a rough time!  No scheming is
necessary to make this difficult.
 
I tend to get a little annoyed when Christians blame "Satan" for
various human behaviors.  Christians are often unclear as to whether
they mean (1) that "Satan" directly, personally intervenes to impel
people to do XYZ, or (2) that behavior XYZ is a part of human
nature, which inherently tends to be in accord with the will of
"Satan".  I am inclined to accept the second idea, but not the
first.  What annoys me is the unspoken implication that the sole
_purpose_ of behavior XYZ is "Satan's" alleged obsessive desire to
spite the Christian "God", when in fact there are usually all kinds
of other reasons why behavior XYZ is natural.
 
 
Diane Vera
    

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Subject: Satan as ruler of the Earth
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